Search form

Search

Wise Clinches Sochi Spot

by

USSA

2014-01-12 13:48

David Wise clinched a nomination to the first-ever U.S. Freeskiing Olympic team Sunday with his victory in the snowy halfpipe final at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix presented by The North Face at Breckenridge. Canadian Mike Riddle landed second with Kevin Rolland of France in third. (Sarah Brunson/U.S. Freeskiing)

BRECKENRIDGE, CO (Jan. 12) – David Wise (Reno, NV) clinched a nomination to the first-ever U.S. Freeskiing Olympic team Sunday with his victory in the snowy halfpipe final at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix presented by the North Face at Breckenridge. Adverse weather forced officials to reschedule the halfpipe final twice, but the competition commenced Sunday despite heavy snow. Canadian skier Mike Riddle landed second with French freeskier Kevin Rolland stealing the third podium spot from X Games legend Simon Dumont (Bethel, ME). Next, the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix heads to Park City Jan. 17-18 for the final two qualification events.

HIGHLIGHTS

David Wise (Reno, NV) clinched a nomination to the first-ever U.S. Freeskiing Olympic team Sunday with his victory in the snowy halfpipe final at the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix at Breckenridge.

Canadian skier Mike Riddle landed second with French freeskier Kevin Rolland stealing the third podium spot from X Games legend Simon Dumont (Bethel, ME).

An impressive roster of U.S. skiers made the 16-man final, including rookies Alex Ferreira (Aspen, CO) and Lyman Currier (Boulder, CO), who finished eighth and tenth, as well as Broby Leeds (Vail, CO) and Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, CO) in 14th and 15th.

Adverse weather at the venue forced FIS officials to reschedule the finals twice, but the contest ran despite near-blizzard conditions, much to the agreement of the athletes.

The staff at Breckenridge was responsible for getting the contest off the ground, opening the mountain after another eight inches of snow fell overnight.

Between the men’s and women’s runs, the athletes helped the event staff clear snow off the halfpipe to ensure a fair competition.

On Friday the slopestyle skiing finals were cancelled due to the challenging weather, and the qualifier scores counted as the finals.

Sunday’s final also marked the end of the FIS World Cup tour for halfpipe skiing. Aaron Blunck (Crested Butte, CO) took second in the World Cup halfpipe overall standings based on cumulative points earned throughout the tour.

Canadian Justin Dorey claimed the FIS World Cup halfpipe title and the crystal globe while teammate Mike Riddle finished third.

Next, the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix presented by The North Face heads to Park City Jan. 17-18 for the final two qualification events, where the men will fight for podium spots to meet the minimum objective criteria for qualification.

QUOTESDavid WiseI’m so happy we got the event off. It’s never a good thing to take a qualifier and turn it into a final, so I think all the riders had that mentality. I’m just excited that everyone was able to get out and that a lot of good runs were landed despite the conditions.

The pressure is off for me now. I’m so stoked. I’m excited to go ski at Park City. Now the pressure is off I can work on my runs a little more and maybe work on some things I still need to hone in for Sochi.